Come with me on Pilgrimage...

Although Shenzhen has few temples,
they are all within an hour of my home. I can visit them again and again,
and I have "cut my teeth" on them in terms of understanding Chinese
temples.

Happy reading!

Click on the Lotus to view the Page!
(Pages without Lotuses are in development)

Tien Hou (Ma
Zhou) Temple, Chiwan, Shekou, Nanshan Dedicated to a Goddess of the Sea who is also the Empress of Heaven. She is a uniquely Chinese figure. The temple is about one hour from where I live in Shenzhen,
Guangdong. I have visited it several times, and expect to visit it frequently. This page will be updated whenever I see something worth adding.Note: Starting on that
page, there are numerous pages about the temple. Please explore!

Guan
Gong Temple, Nantou, Nanshan This ancient temple is dedicated to a "historical" figure from the famous Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He is also a fierce warrior, and a guardian of Buddhist dharma; as such, he is often found in front of Buddhist temples. Here, however, the worship is not Buddhist, but rather "folk devotion."

Lamasery Replica, Folk Cultural
Villages (Splendid China), Nanshan Not a real lamasery, but an amazing simulation! This theme-park-style Tibetan temple has the advantage of being close to home, and photography is allowed inside. It will have to do 'til I visit Tibet
itself.

Chen
Yang Hao Miao, Xia Sha, FutianAlthough this temple almost
surely dates back to the Ming Dynasty, the current building was
"renovated" (probably from the ground up) in 1994. It is
now surrounded by high-rises in one of Shenzhen's oldest and most
prosperous villages.

San Sheng Miao, Meilin,
FutianThis is probably Shenzhen's
newest temple. The friend who showed it to me said it had probably
been built around September of 2004! But there is evidence of much
older folk devotion there.

A-Mi-To-Fo
"Temple," Dong Hu (East Lake) Park, LuohuIf it looks like a
temple...I'm not really sure if this is a temple or a replica of one, but
it's filled with statues, and there's incense to be lit in front of
them. So I guess, in this temple-poor atmosphere, we'll have to
count it!

Hong Fa Temple, Xian Hu (Fairy Lake),
Luohu
This "showcase temple" was built just over a decade ago in a public park; although its "legend" claims longevity, there is little evidence that its foundation pre-dates the 1990's. Nevertheless, it is an outstanding example of temple architecture, and it also has numerous fine Buddhist figures.